The statistics from Moneyfacts show that the average two-year fixed rate mortgage climbed to 5.18 per cent while swap rates – which lenders use to help price their fixed rate mortgages – stood at 2.04 per cent on Tuesday.

Yeah - with rates of profit on fixed mortgages at a 21-year high, the banks are proving themselves very capable of organising their own bailout. The thrust of the Telegraph piece is about concern that - should base rates return to more typical levels - we may find ourselves paying upwards of 10%, as lenders, under pressure from the FSA to build their balance sheets, try to protect current rates of profit. Would that happen? Would it prove profitable to drive borrowers to default?

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